Happy Tenant Company Comments on Government Action to Ban Letting Agent Fees

Happy Tenant Company Comments on Government Action to Ban Letting Agent Fees

Happy Tenant Company Comments on Government Action to Ban Letting Agent Fees

Yesterday, the Queen’s Speech outlined a Draft Tenants’ Fees Bill Ban to, as expected, stop lettings agents charging tenants. Its suggested that tenants may be allowed to recover unlawful charges as part of legislation outlined in the ban. Having previously worked as an estate agent, owning his own independent agency before taking on his current position, CEO of The Happy Tenant, Adam Joseph, offers an unbiased opinion on this major shake-up of the industry and what this could mean for small independent agents:

“As someone who has a duty of care to landlords and tenants, but also partners with leading estate agents and knows the business model, I think there is a real concern that this could be the turning point for the demise of many independent agents. This would be a loss to both the industry and consumers. For some, those fees may only represent a £30k turnover, for example, but to a small agency that could be in equivalent of one and half members of staff. Of course, the alternative is that agents will start to cut corners, the fallout of which leaves landlords with unreliable tenants. Without a doubt there is an expense involved with carrying out referencing, it may not be as expensive as some charge, but it is also not as cheap as people would like to think, particularly if you have to factor in more complex elements such as guarantors. I feel that agents should have a right to charge something, albeit capped.

What will be next, renewal charges? If agents continue to be squeezed larger agents will be the only ones that can survive.”

We believe the fees that letting agents and management companies charge are excessive, unfair and affect your return on investment.

With The Happy Tenant Company, you don’t need to worry about excessive charges. Our fee is clearly laid out, transparent and easy to follow, and our unique approach gives you substantial savings from day one.